Power-producing system



June 15,1926. 1,588,568

v A. w. BENNIS POWER PRODUCING SYSTEM Filed March 25, 1920 3Sheets-Sheet 1 wllqesses.

N. Wjwwll.

A. W. BENNIS POWER PRODUCING SYSTEM June 15 1926.

Filed Mar h 25, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 15 1926.

A. W. BENNIS POWER PRODUCING SYSTEM Filed March 25 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3@L wsimw a? MU Patented June 15, 1926.

were oweaeow lse $Y$TEM- application March 23, 1820, Serial No. 368,18},and in Englanq Ma reh 12, 1919p enema!) unnra'ma rnovrsrous or rnagaeror MARCH 1921,j41srA1 :.,-L., 1313..

This invention relates to improvements in power producing plant usingSOllCl fuel including coke ovens,-r.etorts, gas producers orthe-likehavingmeans for the' recovery, of distillates'or by products andalso ins eluding conveyors, elevators or other labour saving appliances,mechanical stokers and so forth which require for their driving,auxiliary apparatus; In contra-distinction to certain power producingsystems where the steam necessary for the carboni zati'on of the fuel inthe gas producers or the like has been obtained as bleed steam "fi omthe steam supply to the main turblnes or other maln generatmg plantwhereas in the arrangement of the present invention steam forsuehpurposes is obtained from the exhaust piping from the engines drivingthe auxiliaries of the Pl Such supply can be augmented by bleed steamwhen and only when, according to the present invention, pressure of thisbleed steam rises above a'predetermined point. i The invention moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying diagrammaticdrawings in which 7 Figural is a diagram of a complete power system orplant,

Figure'Q, i s'a' view on an enlarged scale of a'modified coking deviceor'retort, and the devices for conveying coke from produce].- to grate"under boiler another discharge pomt.

V C tion,"

Figure 4; is a section on the line AB of Fio'. 2. Fig. '5 is a detaildiagrammatic section of thje automaticvalve. i

lfuel such as coal is fed to one or a group Fi ure 3 'is a" similar Viewof a modifica ofretorts, coke ovens or the like 1, by means of a fuelfeeder 2, this" retortor coking chamber-may have if desired "as shownfasteam jacket 3. Low pressure superheated steam passes into this retort,through a row of ports {l communicating'with a low pressure superheatedsteam main 5, having a ess r relief rare it T e as ed re oralternatively to passes continuously-out oiithe retort and h d ll e passs away into. a Pipev Unlike usual forms ofcolring retorts, ovens the l ks rv ces,- in 'the'-p.r en i .lyeni n a al r i quiv nt is predated a helower pa -t, t y-mean o wh c he sc p of a y Po t on of; he istillate thesteam, (if used) will be substantially'p fe vented at the. dischargepointot the retort, and consequently also unpredetermined,ens trance ofair or gasv flforn the outside "of the retort F inwardly. This gas sealmay consist of an air or water cooled rotating drum 8 (Fig.2) which willallow of a continuous discharge'of'coked p'rofdufct Whilst preventingany substantial fl'ow ofgas or again'fleither additionally oralternatively the discharge endof the retort may be pro vided with anelongated'extension 9,- water, jacketed if desired,and provided Withmeans such as pipes 10, 11, 12,;foIf-al-loWi-ng cone trollable amountsof steaml'toenterwas a baffling or pressure steam preventingTescape 01":gas or steam'outwar'dly.

In. a modified. form of the devicethe mass of' coked fuel in the retortis adapted to leave thisretort through-ua Water seal 13, (Fig, 3) whichmay serve the double purpose of generating the coke,acting as" a waterseal and generating *steain, which" steam can be led awaythrough a'steammain 14' to a low pressureturbine'15f' Thislat te'r may bearranged in"series witha'hi'gh: pressure turbine 16 so that"e xhaust from thislatter can also feed' it. A stop valve 17, is provided to shut o'fiithe'pipe" lfl from the steam from the turbine" 16} when the particularretort 1 is "not in use. ,After passage through the' low lpreissureturbine 15, the water from the hotwe'l'l'o'f *the con den ser 18, may beused in the power-"system cycle as will" be hereinafter describedi 19,represents any form of usefuhcl'evice' such as an electric dynamo ir'omthe" turbines: Steam from the'mainfl may be l'ed'to' a pipe 20"'forheating boilerffeed water, 'for instance in a device 21 otany n ual'known p v I were at the we t e s al irar be maintained constant by anautomatic ball-cock 22 or the like controlling a water inlet 23. Wherethe fuel contains sulphur means for neutralizing the acidity of thewater may be used.

The coked fuel may be discharged as above indicated by a rotating drumor again by means of a travelling platform or-the like 24 comprisingmetal links, steam or air cooled.

The air inlets to the sealing chamber as described above, may be fedfrornpipes 25, communicating with the same main 26, as feeds thecompressed air furnace 27, fed with the coked fuel. This compressed airis supplied by a forced draught fan 28 driven by a steam auxiliary 29,exhausting steam into an auxiliary exhaust steam bus line or main 30,and fed from the high pressure steam main 31. This steam main receivessteam from the superheater 32, of the boiler 33, heated by thesaidfurnace 27 and is maintained at substantially constant pressure.

The furnace 27 may comprise a chain. grate or similar stoker 3 1. Thisgrate may conveniently be of the type of British patent application No.5,542 of 1917 A. V. Bennis.

The boiler and grate are placed in a suitable position for receiving thecoked or partially coked fuel as it is delivered, so that the boiler andgrate form a structural or operating part of the retort or the like 1.It is preferred to employ a grate or mechanical stoking bars havingadjustable speeds of travel so that-the relation'or rate of feed betweenthe conveying device, drum or the like discharging device of the retort1, to the grate or stoker may be adjusted one to the other sothat thethickness of fire on the chain grate may be varied and may be adjustedto suit the characteristics of the fuel. Any known type of draught maybe used.

The highly superheated steam supply to the main 5, for the carbonizationof the fuel is obtained either from a superheater or any desiredindependent boiler which may be provided'with automatic means for thecontrol of the super-heat or this may be arranged as at 35, damperplates 36, being provided to control the passage of the furnace gasesfro1n,.the furnace 27 through the by-pass flue in which it is situated.The steam to supply this superheater 35, is taken from a number or allof the several steam driven auxiliaries.

The boiler flue 37 is connected to a boiler feedwater economizer 38 anda service hot water economizer 39. The flue gases are drawn away by anexhauster l0 driven by a turbine 41 or the like prime mover receivingsteam from the pipe line 31 and exhausts into the main 30.

The gases from the retort 1 pass from the pipe 7, into a combinedcondenser and cooler purposes.

42, having a sump 13, from which distillates are collected for furthertreatment or sale. In order to assist the flow of the distillate throughthe condensing, scrubbing and other by-product recovery apparatus gasexhauster 14: is connected to the condenser or the like plant 412 whichpasses the gases to final cooling and stripping appa- 'ratus 45 and 46,the stripped gas being led away by a pipe &7 to be combusted at anyplace desired for power, heating or other The exhauster 4A, of eachretort 1, or group of retorts or like plant is operated in unisonwith'the other exhauster 76, fans or similar devices operating incombination so that the amount of highly superheated steam when employedfor oarbonization may be maintained at an appropriate proportion to theamount of distillate withdrawn from the retort or the like device 1.

Vater from the condensing water dis charge sump 48, or otherconvenientplace is led by pipe 19 to a. suction pump 50 sending itthrough. pipe 51 to the condenser and cooler 42 where it is heated, andfrom whence it passes by pipes 52 to the economizer 39 mentioned above,after which it is passed into a hot water service main 53 to be put toany desired industrial use. This service main 53, is also fed from thepipe 5 1 connected to the bleed-steam heater 55 receiving water from thedelivery pump 50 and bleed steam from the bleed steam exhaust bus lineor pipe 56.

In order to secure the utmost reduction of initial cost of plant and toattain a maximum operating economy it is preferred to employ turbinegenerators for the generation of electric energy which may be securedfrom the combined power plant. If in sizes larger than 15,000 kilowattgenerating capacity turbogenerators of the compound. type may be used,each unit comprising a high pressure turbine 57 and low pressure turbine58, driving the generator 59. The turbines 57 and 58 are connected by aconnecting pipe 60 which is provided with an outlet pipe 61 having anatmospheric relief valve 62 and connected to a pipe 63 for the supply ofbleed steam when desired for the feed water heater 64:,- and servicewater heater 55, and further as will beset forth below.

In order to obtain maximum reliability of the power plant and tofacilitate the starting up of the engine or electric generatingequipment in the event of a temporary interruption of the electricservice from such equipment by reason of an accident, it is preferred touse steam driven auxiliaries for the general auxiliary powerrequirements of the combined plant such as steam driven. condensingwater circulating pump 65, taking water from the supply 66 and passingit to the pipe 67 leading to the main condenser 68 for the dew pressureturbine 58, the steam driven air pump 69 for the condenser 68, the steamdriven 70, for the hot well 71, of the condenser 68, which passes thehot water to the feed water heater 64- through pipe 72, the steam drivenboiler feed'pump 73 taking water from theheater 64: and pas'singitthrough pipe 74- to the boiler feed water economizer 38 and thence bypipe 75 to the boiler 33, the steam driven hot water service pump 50 andthe exhaust steam circulator 76. steam driven fan 28 and exhauster 44;,and the like auxiliaries, the driving engines being preferablynoncondensing steam turbines.

The auxiliary steam exhaust bus pipe 30 receives exhaust steam from allthese auxiliaries, and this pipe supplies exhaust steam through pipe 77to steam circulating pipes 79 at the side of the grate and other partsto be cooled to the low pressure steam superheater 35 and thence by pipe5 to the retort 1, for the carbonization of the fuel.

Any excess of steam not so required may be passed into a bleed steamexhaust bus line 56 from whence it may pass into the low pressuresection of any or all of the turbines or turbo-generators or it may beused to heat the feed water or alternatively the before mentionedservice water or both as above described, or in the case of emergencythe exhaust steam in the pipe line 30 may be discharged directly intothe atmosphere by conduit 80 controlled by automatic devices such as theautomatic valve 81. This delivery of steam from the exhaust steam main30 to the bleed steam bus line 56 oc curs through the check valvethrough the valving means indicated at 85 comprising the check valve andthe manually controlled valve in series therewith.

In order to provide for emergency such as a stoppage of the supply ofexhaust steam to the auxiliary exhaust bus line 30 and in certain casesfor the purpose of maintaining continuity of the supp y of steam to thehigh temperature superheatcr 35 for the process of carbonization, anemergency steam connection 83 is provided between the high pressure mainsteam supply 31 and the steam line 56, and in thi connection 83 anautomatic reducin valve 84 is placed so that whenever steam pressure inthe pipe 56 falls below a predetermined value, then the valve will opento the high pressure steam supply to maintain a constant steam supplypressure in the pipe 56.

It will be noticed that an automatic valve is arranged between theauxiliary exhaust bus line 30 and the bleed'steam exhaust bus line 56whereby steam from the auxiliary bus line 30 is passed into the pipe 56whenever the pressure of steam in this latter falls below apredetemnined desired hot well pump I boiler limitas needed for heatingthe feed water or'the hot water service system.

The automatic reducing valve 84' may be of any de'siredjtype, forexample, that showninFig: 5, in which, when the pressureun the bus line56 has fallen to a certain extent, and thepressure 1n the exhaust pipelinefidisinsuilicient tosupply the demand,

in Fig. 5, such a valve may have a valve head 84! held upon its seat bythe weight 84 which may be regulated by the addition of disks asdesired: the spindle 84 of this valve passes through a suitable packingjoint 84 The method of operation is obvious; and it will be understoodthat any other similar construction may be employed.

I declare that what I claim is l. A power producing plant comprising asteam prime mover, a plurality of steam driven auxiliaries, to saidprime mover, a supplying steam thereto, a furnace heating said boiler, agas producer, means to pass heat fuel to said producer, means to passcoke from said gas producer to said furnace, an exhaust pipe common tosaid steam driven auxiliaries, means to pass steam from said exhaustpipe to said gas producer to carbonize the fuel therein, a

bleed steam pipe to take off steam from the prime mover to heat waterand an automatic valve on said steam pipe so that steam may pass in onedirection from the exhaust pipe of the auxiliaries to the bleed steampipe whenever the pressure in this latter falls below a predeterminedvalue.

2. A power producing plant'comprising a steam prime mover, a pluralityof steam driven auxiliaries to said prime mover, a boiler supplyingsteam thereto, a furnace heating said boiler, a gas producer, means topass heat fuel to said producer, means to pass coke from said producerto said furnace, an exhaustpipe common to said steam driven auxiliaries,means to pass steam from said exhaust pipe to said gas producer tocarbonize the fuel therein, a high pressure steam main, a reducing valveon said high pressure steam main, a bleed steam pipe connected to'saidreducing valve for passing steam to heat water and an automaticnonreturn valve between said bleed steam pipe andtheexhaust pipe of theauxiliaries so that steam may pass in one direction whenever thepressure in the bleed steam pipe falls below a predetermined value.

3. A power producing plant comprising a steam prime mover, a pluralityof auxiliaries, condensing steam turbines driving said auxiliaries, aboiler supplying steam thereto, a furnace heating said boiler, a gaspros Tdueer, means to pass heat iuel to said proautomatic valve on said.steam pipe so that i" ducer, means to pass coke from said gas steam maypass in one direction from the producer to said furnace, an exhaust pipeexhaust pipe of the auxiliaries to the bleed 10 common to said steamdriven auxiliaries, steam pipe Whenever the pressure in this lat- 5means to pass steam from said exhaust pipe ter falls below apredetermined Value.

to said gas producer to carbonize the fuel In Witness whereof, 1 havehereunto therein, a bleed steam pipe to take oil steam signed my name.from the prime mover to heat Water and an ALFRED WILLIAM BENNIS.

